1. Field
The invention is in the field of inflatable recreational devices for recreational play in water or on land.
2. State of the Art
There are numerous inflatable toys available for water play. These toys float in the water and may be climbed upon by users and may take the form of inner tubes, flat floating mattresses, various shaped animals, or inflatable boats. During water play with some of these floating toys, one or more users will try to mount the toy and it will roll or tip making it difficult to mount, a person mounted on the toy will cause it to roll or tip making it difficult for another person to mount the toy, or a person in the water will cause the toy to roll or tip trying to cause a person on the toy to fall off into the water. None of these toys, however, are designed specifically for rocking play by a user.
Various rocking toys for use on a firm surface such as a floor or the ground are available. A basic rocking toy is a teetertoter or seesaw wherein an elongate plank is pivotally mounted at its center to a support and users sit at opposite ends of the plank and go up and down as the plank pivots about the support. However, a user can dangerously fall to the ground if on the end of the plank that is up in the air if a user at the other end unexpected gets off.
Another basic rocking toy is a rocking horse where a horse or other shaped toy is secured to arc-shaped rocking rails. A user mounts the toy and rocks back and forth on the arc-shaped rails. These rocking toys are generally used by a single user who controls the rocking and there is no interactive play on such toys. Similar rocking toys which have an arced surface and are made of a hard plastic material are also available, see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,730,522. A problem with such toys is that feet or fingers can get between the hard arced rails or surface of the toy and the hard surface the toy is rocking on and become injured. Such toys are similar to traditional rocking chairs.
Some inflatable toys in the shape of animals or fanciful characters have been available having a generally arced lower surface so users can mount the toys and rock thereon. Such toys, however, are sized and configured so that a user""s feet can touch the ground, at least during some rocking of the toy, and such toys are not stable if feet do not touch the ground, i.e., the toys can roll over rather than remaining on their arced surface. This is particularly true in water where such toys have no stability. Further, such toys have not had handles or hand grips thereon, so a user merely squeezes a portion of the inflated toy to try to hold on during play.
According to the invention, an inflatable rocking recreational device includes an inflatable main body with a generally arc-shaped or arcuate bottom surface and is sized to be mounted by one or more users so it can be rocked back and forth by such users. Hand grips are provided in locations where they are accessible to users so the users can grip the hand grips and hold on to the device during rocking.
The device can be elongate with elongate opposite sides extending along the arc-shaped bottom surface so that users mount the device which extends between the users"" legs. In such instance, the device includes smaller stabilizing side bodies which are secured to the main body along the elongate opposite sides of the main body adjacent the generally arc-shaped bottom surface to stabilize the device and keep it from rolling over and also to provide foot rests for users straddling the main inflatable body. The user""s feet do not generally touch or rest on the ground during play. Hand grips are positioned along the main body to be held by the user and can be positioned to be held in front of or behind the user. The device can be used, and is relatively stable, in water or on a supporting surface such as the ground or a floor. The device can be rocked back and forth similarly to a rocking horse, but without the inherent risks of a rocking horse.
Several of the devices may be joined in side-by-side relationship so that users can sit side-by-side. In such cases, a single stabilizing body can be positioned between each side-by-side main body to provide the foot rest. In some instances, a plurality of main bodies may be joined in side-by-side relationship without any stabilizing bodies since the additional main bodies will serve as the stabilizing bodies.
The inflatable main body of the device can also be generally circular giving the device the shape of a bowl. Users will then generally mount the device and take a position in the bowl. Hand grips are provided for a user within the bowl to hold body position in the bowl and outside the bowl in order to pull or tip the edge of the bowl down to achieve entrance to the bowl. If desired, a foot rest can be provided for user""s feet in the center of the bowl or concentrically around the inside of the bowl spaced outwardly from the center depending upon the size of the bowl. The bowl is then tipped or rocked back and forth by the users in the bowl.
A pole or other handle securing means may be secured to the main body with ropes with hand grips, other handles, or similar holding means extending therefrom. A user can stand on the device and hold on to the rope or handle for support.
The top surfaces of the devices may be arcuate or may be substantially flat.